Touched
by Joshua T
Summary: Quinn has been chosen by Nyx to attend the House of Night Minneapolis. He has been chosen, much like Zoey Redbird of the Tulsa House of Night, by Nyx. She called him the first "Son of Night" in this modern world. But would she choose a male? Please, R&R!
1. Chapter 1

From Edith Hamilton's_ Mythology Timeliness Tales of Gods and Heroes:_

"…Black-winged Night

Into the bosom of Erebus dark and deep

Laid a wind-born egg, and as the seasons rolled

Fourth sprang Love, the longed-for, shining, with

wings of gold." (63).

Chapter One

Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, I saw a dead guy standing by my locker. At first, I didn't even recognize him as my friend Darren continued to tell the newest off color joke that his father happened to hear. He was standing there acting it out. "He had his hand here…" He put it on the left butt cheek of the imaginary man in front of them, "No here…" He put it on the right taking away his left. Then he put both of them down, "Hey wait…"

Darren laughed as he always did, which seemed to come deeper than his stomach. Of course, he would always laugh loudest at his joke. I let out a short laugh that turned into a few steady coughs. I hated being sick, but I figured it would go away soon after a couple days of non-stop coughing. Darren slapped me on the back a couple times as if to put me out of breath instead of stopping my coughs.

Darren was the centerpiece of our small little group, while for all intensive purposes I was an outsider they happened to let into their circle. "So, Derek, are you going to be drinking with us tonight after the game?" The game they were talking about was the football game. They played the sport, while I played in the band. It was less humiliating knowing that my friends played and I was JUST friends with the people in the band which was easier done than said.

I went to a small school out in the boonies. There were only roughly 300 people in the kindergarten through twelve grades. I was friends with the football players, although the only sport I had any talent in was running. "Well, I'll hang out. You know I don't drink. I'll probably be around until after the game is over."

"Sure thing, bro." Darren slammed his locker shut and made his way down the hallway towards the gymnasium. Coach Saunders would be there waiting for each of them to give them a loud lecture about how pathetic they were. Darren knew I didn't drink. I played their designated driver every week for the last four months.

It was then that I realized the man was standing next to the other locker. The blue crescent moon seemed to glow in the light of the mid-afternoon coming from the north doors that led out to the cars. "Oh shit," was the only words that seemed to aptly describe the sensation of him moving close to me.

The vampyre was handsome to say the least. He stood about half a foot taller than me, but he had the whitest blonde hair that was left shaggy. He spoke the words with a melody I'd only heard vampire artists speak. They floated between us like a prelude to my personal requiem. It was the beginning of an ancient ceremony I did not want to be a part.

"Derek Johnson! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night."

He lifted his left hand and pointed it directly at me. Fire exploded from my head, and I knew I looked remarkably like Harry Potter grabbing his forehead and slamming backwards into a locker. I heard the door to my English teacher's classroom swing up, and then I heard her scream.

The pain my forehead receded like the tides as my vision began to focus. The frumpy form of my English teacher stood before me her eyes wide with fear, while her finger pointed at my head paralleling what the vampyre had done a few seconds before.

"Der…Der….on your…" She was blubbering in her deep masculine voice. She couldn't seem to get any sort of word out except something that sounded like an engine revving up to start.

I took a step towards her, "Miss Wilde…" I reached out my hand and she let out the squeal of a rodent seen stealing cracked. She took two steps back as she grabbed the cross on her neck. I shook my head, "I'm not really different…" Even as I finished the line, I let out several deep coughs that seemed to tear at the inside of my throat to get out.

A second step towards her caused her to turn around and run down the hallway. I brought my hand up to my forehead and rubbed it gently. The burning within it passed, and it took me a second to remember what now rested on the center of my forehead. I did not need to actual see the mark to know what it was. There would be an outline of a crescent moon on my forehead. "I need to get to a House of Night…"

My words hung in the air like an eerie noise in a haunted house. Everyone knew about the House of Night in Minneapolis, but no one really talked about it. You watched vampyres on television; you listened to vampyres on the radio; you did not become vampyres. South Dakota did not have vampyres. Well, we did, (Bob Barker or Dan Rather were the famous exceptions) but it wasn't something we talked about regularly.

I pushed through the doors, forgetting about the bag of schoolbooks I left on the floor of the hallway. "Mom, I've been marked, my entire world has turned upside down, and now I'm going to be a pariah of my former school. Gotta go, Vampyre Prep School, here I come." The conversation sounded as ridiculous out loud as it did in my head. It was then I realized I forgot my books. I paused for a second wondering whether or not I needed to get them. I opted to go back. I walked into the hallway, where Miss Wilde stood with the principle.

Principle McMillan seemed as wide eyed as Miss Wilde had been. The difference, his mouth created an opening large enough for a fist (maybe two). "Yes, I've been marked." I moved over and grabbed my backpack. "The first person in Blue Valley, yay! You should call KSDJ and announce it on the radio." My anger was boiling at this point. I hated being made a spectacle of, even if it was mostly fear that caused it to be like that. My brother's death put me in the forefront, now this was doing it again. "RAR!" I snarled at them.

They took a step back, but continued to look at me. It took the principle a second but he closed his mouth. "We've…We've called your mother. She is on her way to pick you up right now."

My anger grew inside me like an entire apple tree suddenly sprouting from a single seed. "You called my mom? Don't you think this would be something I'd want to tell them myself!" Other teachers were finding their way into the hallway. There was even a few students who happened to be coming out from the library and the computer lab. Our school was small, and I should have known better than to yell.

I covered my forehead with my hand and walked out the door. I didn't realize how much I'd been coughing. My chest was already beginning to tighten. Vampyres permeated our culture, and scientists seemed to say it had something to do with junk DNA becoming active. That caused the Change. You could not bite someone and make them change, nor could they drink your blood and expect to become one of Night's children. Your junk DNA became active and you became a fledgling or you lived out your life as a human.

Once again, I felt the eyes of everyone staring at me as I sat on the curb. I kept on my angered appearance mostly because I did not want them to know how much I was freaking out. I would lose my friends here. They talked about vampyres like they were abominations from god. They called the fledglings 'little devils' because they were preparing to become vampyres instead of dying as humans. Did that make me no longer human?

I began to cough for several seconds as my mother drove up in our 1990 Pontiac Bonneville. The tightening in my chest was lessening which mean it was probably more stress than outright dying, but I needed to find another vampyre before my body just rejected the metamorphosis completely. Thank god, my mother showed up. I did not know how long I'd been sitting there, but no one had left the school since I sat down. My mom opened the passenger door from the driver's side. She tried to keep a smile on her face as I looked up at her. She clearly glanced at my mark and then down at me. "Come on, Derek. It's not that bad."

I looked up at her, and the anger washed away from my face. As I got up and slumped down in the drivers seat, my mother looked over at the people in the windows and gave them the finger. I couldn't even pretend to be angry as I looked over at her. "You're not angry?"

"Come on, I'm your mother. Your dad isn't going to be too happy about it, but he'll come around. That's the way he is." She put the car into gear and began to drive down the street headed out of town. "I threw some of your things in a bag back there, and I figured we'd get you to the Minneapolis House of Night. I called a head and they are expecting you."

I coughed quite a bit a small amount of blood ending up on the back of my hand. "Do you mind if I try to…"

"No, you need your sleep. It's been a long hour."

I just nodded as I closed my eyes. Part of me wanted to wipe the blue crescent off my forehead or try to hide it with make-up. I wanted to go back to school and laugh at everyone who'd seen me after I was 'marked'. I wanted to pretend that nothing had changed. The other part of me thought about the House of Night. I thought about the world of blood, beauty, and magic in which they lived. I opened my eyes and looked at my mom. She didn't see me looking at her, there was a sadness about her face, she'd already lost one son, now did she think she was losing two?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Small town. Small town. Cornfield. Bean Field. Cornfield. Small town. The drab exterior bored me more than the radio stations sizzling in and out as we drove the four and a half hours to Minneapolis. My mom kept a hand on the wheel and sent a smile in my direction every few miles just to let me know that not only was she all right with this, she wanted me to know that she was there for me. I felt like I was drifting in and out of the twilight zone.

"Mom, you do realize I could die? Right?" Of course, I needed to be the one to drop the bomb on the small happy innocent seeming village that was my mother.

She took a deep breath and looked down for a second before glancing instantly back at the road seemingly having regained her composure. Her dark brown hair, like it had been forever, fell down past her shoulders, but in recent years held a few lines of gray. She turned to me and gave me a smile just like the others. "Derek, we could get into a car accident and we both die before you ever get to the House of Night."

"But that would be like fate." I really did not know much about fate, and did not think about it too much. I was sixteen. I was a bit big around the middle, and felt out of place while surrounded by my so-called friends. Fate had nothing to do with it, that was just the way reality happened.

She drove silently for about a mile before she began to speak in the same elegant tone she'd spoken to me after my brother died. Except this time, she did not have any tears falling down her face and marring her aged beauty. "You know I read a lot of those trashy books right? The ones that turn vampyres into blood thirsty killers or god-like lovers…"

"Please don't go into any more detail than that, but yeah, I've seen the books with the half naked vampyres on the cover." I coughed for a few seconds wiping the blood on the back of my jeans. I had been doing it since I got into the car.

My mom glanced down at my pants, but did not say anything else in regards to the blood. "The vampyres are chosen to do great things in the world. I told both you and your brother that you were going to do great things."

"Quinn is dead, mom. He can't do great things." I cut her off, and I saw that the blade of words cut her as well. I should have been helping her with all of this, instead of taking cheap shots at my mom through my dead brother.

"Quinn is dead, but that doesn't mean you can't do great things in his memory." She ground her teeth together to hold back the tears that prepared to fall at the edge of her eyes. "God help me," She spoke quietly as she pulled the car over slamming on the breaks to look over directly at me. "We are both dealing with this, Derek. You're right. You're my only son now that you brother has died, but if I don't believe this has happened for a reason, that you're going to live past the Change, and do great things with your life, then I'm not going to be able to get through it. If you don't think that, if you don't know that in your heart that you're destiny is at the House of Night, then you're not going to have the strength to go on. I love you, and this is a blessing. Got it?"

Bernadette Johnson. That was my mom, the woman who would tell God himself what he needed to do to be happy. You almost had to listen to such determination. I looked at her as more tears began to fall down my face. She made everything seem so exactly, like it was the only real choice I had. She unbuckled her seatbelt and hugged me. I unbuckled my seatbelt returned the hug.

The coughing started again, and this time, the tightening in my chest wasn't coming from stress. "I…" The coughing began again in torrents. "On your shirt…" My whole body shook as I coughed. I felt my head pounding. I felt the car once again go back into gear as my mind slowly began to fade. My chest felt like an alien was trying to burst out of it, while my throat felt like a demon was crawling up out of it.

The thick coppery taste flowed into my mouth. The pain throughout my muscles and my body continued to rise inside me. My mom suddenly slammed on the breaks. I turned to look at her feeling the blood drift down my face. The side of my head hit the dash and everything went black.

I opened my eyes slowly. I expected my entire body to be covered in blood, but as I looked down at myself I realized that was far from the case. I wore the same pair of torn jeans and a deep blue Abercrombie polo that my mom bought me in September. It was then I realized I woke up on grass, not in the front seat of the car I passed out in. "Where…" I tried to keep my voice quiet, but I knew the answer as soon as I looked around. It was Blue Valley Lake.

Blue Valley Lake wasn't more of a large pond than a lake, but people still swam and fished there. It was the convergence point of five small streams, which was probably what originally made it as large as it was. I still went there from time to time. It rested in the bottom of a small valley, and it was quite the work out to run down the hill and then back up on the way out. "How did I…"

For a second, I saw my body resting in the front seat of the car. My mom was holding the steering wheel tightly; her knuckles were white from the pressure. She put the car once again in gear, and then began to drive. I saw myself with my eyes closed. There was a small gash right above my temple. "I died?"

_Follow the wind…_

A gentle breeze seemed to entrap me and drive me forward down deeper into the water. It was walking that I figured out my feet were barefoot. I felt the grass beneath my feet, and the entire scene seemed to create a deep-rooted peacefulness inside of me. I still thought I happened to be dead, but this place seemed kind of…well dead to be Heaven, or Hell, which ever it may be. Maybe that was hell, maybe it was wandering aimlessly to an unknown voice that kind of sounds like your dead grandma.

I moved down the pathways I'd known since a kid, smiling as I saw the tree my brother and I once carved our names into. I moved over to touch it, although the wind told me I needed to keep going. I gave it a short wave as I walked on. For some reason, something felt odd about this place. It _was_ Blue Valley Lake, but at the same time, I knew by the feel of the ground beneath my naked feet that it wasn't.

_Across the water…_

Even as the inner voice stated it, I came to the end of the path that led into the lake proper. The lake stood still as it did on most days. Some days, you could see the water moving, but right now it looked like it had many times before, calm, placid, and beautiful with the sunset in the west. I placed my foot out over the water and stuck my foot on it wondering if I would in fact walk across the lake. A large gust of wind told me that was not the case, I lost my balance falling right into the water.

The waves seemed crash over me. The fact that lake was serene seemed to pay them no mind. They wrapped around me and pulled me. I was not a bad swimmer, but I was not prepared for the water to grapple me like it had. I took a deep breath as it pulled me under again, and then pushed with all my might skyway.

The darkness seemed to be setting in as I broke the surface. I began to swim to the other side, which took more effort than it had ever had before. Swimming across the 'pond' as they called it was a ritual for anyone who went swimming. I had probably done it hundreds of times, but the water never grabbed a hold of me before, not like that.

_Upon the earth…_

"What does that even mean?" I pulled myself up on the other shore, and it was clearly now night as I looked up at the sky. The moon rested in a deep crescent. It was then I moved up to touch my forehead. The crescent was still there, but I had to be sure. I looked down at the dark black waters on Blue Valley Lake. Oddly, I could see myself perfectly. There stood the outline perfectly centered on my forehead. For the first time, I looked at it and smiled. The blue of the crescent matched my eyes.

_Onward to fire…_

Like the lake simply appearing, I could smell the smoke, but it was more like incense than the smoke from a wood fire. It glowed off into the distance, and was easy to follow. I saw a dark figure sitting close to it, and as I approached I called out. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" It would have been impolite to do otherwise.

Even before I sat down, I felt like this meeting had happened before. Something seemed redundant, ceremonial, and almost ancient. This meeting happened to hundreds of men and women before me. They sat at this fire, or sat next to this woman, even when I had no idea who she was.

"Of course, my son." It sounded like my grandmother in tone, only the woman who sat beside the father could not be that ancient. She was probably the most beautiful woman I'd seen. Her skin seemed brown like the earth, while her eyes resembled that lake water. As I sat down beside her, I could feel the warmth of the fire, but there was another warmth coming from her. She moved over and touched me, "Do you know my name?" Her touch felt like a gentle breeze, but like the wind there was an odd fierceness to it.

"You're not my grandmother."

The woman let out a small laugh, "No, not really." It sounded like a child giggling, a woman's snicker, or an old woman's chuckle.

"But, I could almost swear I've seen you before. You're…" It took me a second to realize it, but as she stood before me, it was almost like the night engulfed her. "Night."

"Nyx is the name your world knows me, or at least the vampyres and those associated with them do. They've long been in my care." She seemed to poke at the fire for a second as she watched me.

I waited for a few seconds and began to look into the fire. "Am I dead?"

"No, you're not dead, but your spirit has been free to wander."

"So, I'm in the ether?" I was trying to keep up with the woman, but it was not as easy as I would have liked. There was so much that was currently happening around me. As I looked into the fire, I saw my mom meeting with a blonde woman, although I couldn't see much else. "I need to get back."

"You will be back soon enough."

I quickly blurted out another question, as I continued to feel my forehead. The burning was slowly subsiding, but something felt odd. "Are you like the vampyre goddess? You mentioned them…and you're coming to me."

"The ancient Greeks, your forefathers, touched by the Change first worshipped me as their mother. I have been pleased to call you and your brethren my children. Many of them are called vampyres, although not all of them. They have many names for me."

The fire seemed to mesmerize me as I watched it. Nyx once again touched me and pulled me out of the trance. Her face was soft. It looked how cream cheese felt, soft and malleable. "Your destiny awaits you. I have Marked you as my own. You will be one the first Son of Night in this age. You are special, and you are not alone. Accept that about yourself, and you will begin to see the power that is inside of you. Within you is combined the knowledge of the past as well as the adaptability of the modern world."

The Goddess seemed to lean in close to me. "Quinn Northstar, Son of Night, I name you my eyes and ears in the world today, a world where the past and presence struggle to find a balance."

"But…" This all seemed like a ceremony, that I should be watching and not truly a part of it. "I don't know what I'm doing. I might not even make it through the change. How am I supposed to be anything but lost?" The name did not seem odd to me, but felt like something honest inside of me, something I had yet to realize yet.

Her smile seemed to make blanket the worry and create a warm feeling inside of me. "Believe in yourself. Believe in your friends. But remember, darkness does not always equal to evil, just as light does not always bring good."

"I…" The Goddess of night, Nyx, pressed her finger against my lips. "Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again." She pressed her own lips against my forehead. As my eyes drifted shut, I wondered if I passed the test, if the ceremony was over, and if this was just the start of a much longer journey.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_So shut your eyes while mother sings  
Of wonderful sights that be,  
And you shall see the beautiful things_

_As you rock in the misty sea,_

_Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three,_

_Wynken, Blynken, and Nod…_

My mother's voice grabbed a hold of my spirit through the fog of sleep and seemed to pull me to wakefulness. Her sweet scent of strawberries, which I always thought came from her shampoo, wafted around me. I smiled as I looked at her. "Still singing to me huh?" Her melodic voice seemed to lull me even when I fought sleep with an imaginary bazooka.

She smiled down at me with her bright eyes, "You're never going to scare me like that again alright, and you need to make sure you keep your seatbelt on!" She hit my arm lightly as she tried to keep the 'angry mom' going, although she couldn't help but keeping on her smile. She was scared I had died, hell part of me had been scared I had died.

The young, no, the vampyre woman who walked in looked beautiful. She reminded me of a super-model mostly because of her thin, but not overly thing, look. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a single ponytail. She wore glasses which I guessed was mostly an accessory, because as a fully Changed vampyre she had no need problem seeing in even the darkest nights. Her blue crescent moon on her forehead was surrounded by what looked like olive branches. She wore a simple pants suit. Part of me wondered if this was another dream, and was going to get weirdly kinky. "Yes, following the law is a priority, especially among fledglings and vampyres." I knew instantly she was the woman from the fire.

"And you are?" I sat up, happy that the pain in my body seemed to end. I was wearing a different pair of my clothes, and I wondered when that came about, and really hoped my mom was the only who changed me.

"I am called Alyssa Lancaster, the High Priestess here at the House of Night." She put out her hand, and I took it easily. "You came to us in quite a condition, and although your mother mentioned you hit your head, it is hardly normal for a Mark to be filled in like that."

It was stupid to ask, and I knew it was stupid, but I needed to be sure. "Did I go through the Change?"

"No, you are still very much a fledgling, and you're not even the first within the last two years to have a crescent filled in. There was this girl down in Tulsa, but that is another story for another time." She sat down on the edge of the bed looking over at my mother. "Miss Johnson, you do understand that your son is now legally emancipated correct?"

"Of course, Miss Lancaster, I may be from South Dakota, but that hardly means I don't know the law." My mother held my hand, although I pulled it out of hers, giving her a smile of reassurance. "I understand that he will stay here and take classes. He has potentially four years unless his body doesn't make it through the Change, at which point he will die." Her words seemed to have venom in them. She hated when people thought she was stupid.

"Good," Alyssa said without taking a breath after my mom's short speech. "You, sir, have a chance at starting over. I've been going over most of the paperwork, and you have a choice as to whether or not you're going to go into this life with a new name. Alyssa isn't the name I was born with, it was the one I chose when I was Marked. I'm not saying you have to leave your life behind, but many do."

"Quinn," I spoke easily as I looked over at my mother, "Quinn Northstar. I…" A sudden wrench in his gut told him to keep it to himself. "Is that okay mom?"

A second young woman walked into the room. She did not exude as much confidence as Alyssa, but I knew she was a Changed vampyre almost immediately. Her hair was the color of ripe apples, while her eyes looked like the light underneath the canopy of a rainforest. "Alyssa, the Erebus and Neferet situation has just changed. You received a message from the Council."

"If you two will excuse me," She stood up giving me a short smile. "Phoenix Song, the professor music here at the House of Night, will be your mentor. He should be right along." She smiled at mom, "Miss Lancaster, Serena can escort you out."

My mom for a second stared at Alyssa with her mouth open, but she quickly closed it. "There's a parent's day every once in a while, I will make sure I attend. I'll talk to you father; feel free to call if you need anything. You may be emancipated, but that doesn't mean you don't have a home." She moved up and kissed my cheek as she walked over Serena.

"Phoenix will be right with you," Alyssa stated. Serena gave me a quick look before the three of them all rushed out of the room.

My mom popped her head back in. "I love you, don't forget that." She was holding the side of the doorframe with both hands almost like a cartoon character. I couldn't help but shake my head at her.

"I love you too, mom. Go, before they call the Sons of Erebus on you."

Oddly, my mom put on a mischievous grin before she made her way out. I shook my head a couple more times with a large smile on my face. She WANTED to see the Sons of Erebus. She'd like to be thrown to the curb by men who looked like Greek deities. I paused for a second to look over my thoughts, Nyx was a Greek deity, and well she was a deity who was worshipped by the Greeks. I needed to remember that. I didn't want to do anything sacrilegious.

When Phoenix Song strode through the door, I honestly felt like my heart was going to stop. He stood around six foot four inches, and had the brightest red hair, I had ever seen. It seemed to be speckled with orange, but it was mostly a crimson red. His eyes looked almost golden in the moonlight. He named seemed to be perfect fit. "You must be Quinn." He gave my filled in crescent a slight look, before giving me a smile and meeting my eyes once again.

I kicked my feet over the edge of bed, "Not for very long now, but yeah, that me." I was trying to sound chipper, when in reality my stomach felt like it was weighed down to my toes.

"Well, I'm going to show you my classroom, and then show you to your roommate." He opened the door for me and let me walk through it, before walking beside me down the hallway. "He'll be able to help you through mostly everything else here, but remember if you have any questions feel free to come to me."

"So… you're a teacher here?" I was asking redundant questions as we walked down the hallway.

"I teach music and dance. We have a shortage of teachers here, but we make due with what we have. We're generally very good at findings our pupils skills and working with them regardless of ourselves not having an affinity for it." His voice sounded like a melody, almost like you could write sheet music to each of her words, and a gentle sonata would ring out.

I pushed back my dark hair with both my hands and let them rest on my head. "I'm just your regular everyday kid. Well, besides my crescent being filled in, but Alyssa even says that is normal nowadays."

Phoenix gave a little laugh as he stood in front of a door with his name overtop of it, "It's hardly an everyday occurrence, but it has happened recently. It generally means you've been gifted by the goddess."

The smile on my face probably looked like my crescent turned on its side. I really liked Phoenix already; perhaps he would be able to teach me some dance moves. I have always been light on my feet, but perhaps I could use it for other things. "Do you have a fencing instructor?"

We began to walk once again down the hallway towards another wing as he continued go to on, "Yes, our instructor is Maria Curry. She actually nearly won the fencing championship against Dragon Lankford. By the way his words seemed to move with excitement, I figured that was a good thing. We stopped at a large doorway, "This is the dormitory. Your room is 243, which is right up the first flight of stairs after you enter the dorm."

I paused for a second and looked up at him. "I'm more than a little bit scared to be honest." I let out a breath as I forced a smile on my face.

"Don't let anyone tell you it isn't alright to be afraid. Being afraid is one thing, but facing it, and being determined to not let it bring you down is another thing." He touched my shoulder lightly as he left me standing in front of the doorway.

I stood there for a few seconds wondering who was going to be on the other side. I began to wonder what exactly my roommate was going to be like. I pictured a hundred different young men my age, and a few who were a couple years older. Finally, I took in a deep breath and opened the door handle.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The common room looked oddly… well common. I expected something a little more extravagant based on the fact part of me still pictured vampyre society to be this elegant aristocratic group. Part of me hoped some of it was still like that. The more pressing issue was each of the eyes that burrowed into my forehead. They stared at the filled in crescent. Although most were men, there were a few girls. It must have been the 'men's' commons. "Hi." My voice quivered slightly as I raised my hand. The murmuring began as I took in a deep breath and made my way towards the first flight of stairs that Phoenix had mentioned. I really did not want to sit in that room any longer than I needed.

I looked at the room numbers making my way down the hallway, a couple young men seemed to move out of my way. "I've been moving around the school for less than an hour and I'm already a pariah. Welcome to Vamp High." I muttered this to myself as I made my way to the door. I knocked lightly wondering what the guy on the other side would be like.

"Come in," The voice was elegant, much like Phoenix's, but didn't have the odd resonance that the vampyres voice had. I opened the door, and was greeted by a smiling young man who seemed to be a couple years older than me. "You must be Quinn. I've been waiting for the last couple days for you."

"I was…this some sort of vampyre precognition thing?" I made my way over to the bed that wasn't surrounded by posters of James Dean, Marilyn Munroe, and Audrey Hepburn. I sat down feeling what I quickly believed was the softest bed I'd ever been on.

The man smiled in reply as he put out his hand. "Something like that, I'm Alexander Mayfair." He seemed to command the room he entered, although he stood only a few inches taller than me. He had delicate features, almost feminine, but his broad shoulders and chest made him seem far from effeminate. His black hair was cut short, which seemed out of place. It was only then that I realized how many of the students had longer hair.

"Birth name or chosen name?" I stood up, and instead of grabbing his hand outright, I grabbed a hold of his forearm, which I'd only seen on Xena or Hercules. Oddly, it felt more right in this situation than a handshake.

We held each other for a second after the initial shake, "Both actually, my mom named me Alexander after the vampyre. She actually helped me choose the last name, saying I looked like Julien Mayfair from these Anne Rice books. She said I was leaving my old life behind, but she was still there if I needed her." He moved back over to a desk he'd placed up against east wall. "From what I hear, your mom was fairly supportive?"

"You sure hear a lot," I sat down on the bed again, sinking into the cushiness of the mattress, "What is that all about?"

"The vampyres tend to keep us informed about our roommates. I've known you were coming for two days or so." He was talking more to the wall than to me, but I heard him fairly well. He was shuffling through a few papers. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, I'm looking for your class schedule. They gave it to me right after Vampyre Sociology, and I put it with my notes."

"Talking about classes, what am I taking?" I stared up at the ceiling, noticing Alexander had several posters up there as well. "And…do you go by Alex? Xander? Lex?"

"Alex is fine." He stated with a smile as he pushed his chair back a little bit further than it had been sitting and walked a small piece of paper over to me. He stood over me for a second as he waved the paper. "You have to choose what you're taking for second period. Drawing, Drama, or Dance."

My brown eyes met his blue ones for a second and I smiled as the realization hit me. "Well, I can't act. I can't draw. I guess… wait didn't Phoenix say he taught that?" I looked over the sheet of paper, and when I pulled it down, I realized Alex had been looking at the crescent moon on my forehead.

Alex nodded as he made his way towards his side of the room. I think he wanted to pull my attention away from the fact he had been staring, "Yeah. He's a wonderful teacher. I'm in Drama, but I can introduce you to a couple of ladies I know who are in dance. They're cool."

"You can ask about it, you know." I did not want him to think that I would keep anything from him. For some reason, I felt like I could trust him. Maybe that was part of the 'vampyres keeping them informed.' Maybe they set up roommates who could potentially grow from the other one being around them.

He put his hands into his pockets. For the first time, I might actually think he was the same age as me. He looked boyish when he looked up at me. "My mom once told me that if you wanted to know something about a friend, that if you gave them time they would come to you about it. I'm going to be honest." He took his hands out of his pockets and folded them across his chest. "I've had a couple of other roommates. Neither of them, made it through the Change."

The silence crept in almost instantly.

The Change was something that scared me, mostly because of this reason. I'd met Nyx, and people seemed to think that I was Marked of her own, but did that make me different than any other fledgling. I wondered if she Marked me only to watch me die.

I sat up, looking down at the ground. It took me a second to look over at him and give him an apology. "I…don't know what to say. I'm sorry."

"It's nothing you could help." Alex moved over and sat beside me. "One thing you'll learn really quickly here, is that when a fledgling doesn't go through the change, they tend to hush it up fairly quickly. Most people tend to try and put it behind them. It took me a while, and I still haven't forgotten Anthony. The other roommate who didn't make it may have been a bigot, but he didn't need to die. Some people say I'm cursed."

Although I knew the smile seemed a bit giddy, I shook my head. "You're not cursed, Alex. Didn't I read somewhere that only 12 percent of fledglings make it through the Change?" The recent of the words seemed to come from some place inside me. "They said it's gone up in recent years, but…. twelve percent is only twelve people in a hundred. Besides, I'm going to make it. You're going to make it. Have faith in the goddess, and we'll both make it through." I knew the statistics were right, but it seemed almost like something had helped me along.

"Yeah, you and I are going to be friends."

"Eh, you'll learn to hate me." Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't going to be true.

Alex turned to look at the clock, his eyes widened. It was four forty-five in the morning. "Come on, we have to go eat. The dining hall closes in about fifteen minutes, and you're going to need your strength. Besides, Missy and Lexi should both be there." The drastic subject change was needed; I didn't want to think about rejecting the change; I didn't want to think about being Nyx's chosen; and, I just wanted to find out if I had a place at the House of Night.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry guys for the short chapter. I kind of drew a blank. I'm having a bit of a trouble writing the mass characters in this scene. Please, read and review! I want to know what people think.

Chapter Five

"So, vampyre society is matriarchal?" The thought seemed odd to me as we walked towards the dining hall on the other side of the House of Night main building. "That means that it is run by women." I double-checked my facts as we actually turned down a second hallway.

Alex just nodded, as the two of us seemed to begin to walk in step. "Yeah, it's governed by a Council of High Priestess, where one is elected to basically chair it." He turned to me and gave me a smile. "The male equivalent would be the Sons of Erebus, who are the warriors."

For some reason, the thought of a matriarch or patriarchal society seemed a bit mundane to me. If women were the leaders, and men were the warriors weren't they just 'putting people in their place' instead of allowing them all the spread their wings. Silence seemed to come over us as we arrived at the doorway to the dining hall. "We're meeting Missy and Lexi?" I gave him an uneasy look as we stood out front for a second.

Alex gave me a half smile before he opened the door. I did not expect the room that stood before me. It resembled a lunchroom only because it had students eating at the various tables in the center of the room. Throughout the edges there were small lounging areas where people sat with trays and chatting with others. A few people looked up to see who entered the room, but most of them just kept to their friends and talked. There was a fire place towards the east of the room and a young girl who seemed a year or so younger than me sat there reading a text book.

"Alex, get your ass over here." My eyes instantly found the black beauty that called to my roommate. She had long hair that seemed to have an almost purple tint to it. Her eyes resembled a river after a rainstorm. She looked me over once, and then turned back to the woman beside her.

The two of us walked over to the table, "You're not even going to let us get food, Lexi?"

"Of course not," She looked up at me. "See Miss, he really does have his Mark colored in."

I did not bother to respond, but I did feel like some sort of zoo animal being looked at like a sideshow attraction. Alex seemed to cut in fairly quickly, "Lexi, be nice."

The woman beside Lexi seemed a little shy, and did not say anything to comment further on my Mark. She looked up at me with jade eyes. Her brown hair looked straight, but the darkness seemed to illuminate her eyes to almost glow against her pale skin. "This is Lexi, and I'm Missy." Her voice wasn't meek, but firm as she put out her hand.

My hand met her forearm as I had done five minutes before with Alex. "Hi, I'm Quinn. And I really don't know why my Mark is colored in. I'm not a vampyre, just a fledgling." I figured it would be easier just to cut to the chase about what I knew.

"We'll be right back, we just need to grab something to eat." Alex tugged on my arm lightly and pulled me towards the collegiate looking serving area. They had roasted chicken with wild rice and steamed vegetables. My mouth seemed to water almost instantly as I took in the scents. We got our food and sat down beside the two women. A young man had sat close to Missy with his arm around her shoulders; I figured it was her boyfriend, or very handsy brother.

"Trent meet Quinn. Quinn. Trent." Alex's introduction was quickly as he pulled a piece of chicken from the bone and put it in his mouth. I smiled and nodded to the young man as I began to put some food into my mouth.

"Did you guys hear about the Dark Daughters?" Trent flashed a smile. He flicked his head to move the hair from his matching brown eyes before he went on, "The second High Priestess died today after her body rejected the change." He leaned in pulling Missy with him as he spoke about the woman's. His face looked almost like a ferret, although it seemed to work in his favor.

Alex actually sat his fork back down on his plate after he swallowed. "That's the seventh death this month."

"Is that…" I spoke up and all four of them looked at me like I'd kicked a puppy. "Is that a lot?"

"Some people just don't make it through the Change," Missy began as she pushed a pea around her plate, "But about twelve out of a hundred make it through. There's been close to twenty rejections since classes began this year. We had five students transfer to the Chicago House of Night saying this place was cursed."

"Curses all around then," I stated as I put another piece of chicken in my mouth. "What are the Dark Daughters?"

"They're an elite group of fledglings. They perform rituals and set an example for the other fledglings. They're like…the honor students of the House of Night. Their High Priestess is the leader." Lexi spoke easily as she sat back filing down her nails on her left hand. Missy gave her a short smile. "I do pay attention sometimes. Especially when the word 'elite' comes up."

I couldn't help but feel like the new kid as I continued to ask questions. "Can anyone join, or do you have to be invited? I mean… Dark Daughters kind of sounds like…sexist."

"You can be a Dark Son as well, but they're basically male fledglings who are preparing to be part of the Sons of Erebus." Trent stated still looking at Missy. She threw a pea at him as he opened his mouth, popping it almost perfectly in it.

The cough sent a wave of silence over the dining hall. Everyone, including me, turned to the woman reading a book on the fireplace. The second cough gargled more than coughed. "Get the High Priestess!" Someone yelled, but the rest of us just seemed to continued to watch her. She stood up and turned to us, her hands were at her eyes, rubbing them almost as if she was crying. The coughing continued as she pulled them away. Blood was running down the sides of her mouth, and her eyes. A waterfall of blood fell from her nose.

Students were getting up and leaving, but a few of them kept looking towards the door waiting for an adult to come through. "Come on," Alex stated as he pulled me up from my place leaving our trays sit. "You don't want to see this on your first day here." I didn't want to see a kid horrifically die on my first day at this new school, especially since tomorrow, that kid might be me.


End file.
